As part of Beaverton’s 2012 State of the City program on Wednesday, Jan. 18, the City will host a local business showcase, highlighting 14 Beaverton-based companies at the Arts and Communication Magnet Academy (ACMA) Performing Arts Center (11375 SW Center Street). The program runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Damascus is looking for volunteers to serve on the city’s Budget Committee and Planning Commission. The city’s Budget Committee will fill three positions for three-year terms which begin in March. The committee usually completes its work on adopting the city’s budget in a handful of sessions, which total about six to eight hours per year, according to City Manager Dan O’Dell.

Spotlight

At Umpqua Bank, a community bank with stores in Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada, community service is more than a good deed – it’s an integrated component of the business. As such, Umpqua gives all associates up to 40 hours of paid time off a year to volunteer through its Connect Volunteer Network (Connect).

All around the country and at all levels of government, the new year brings old and new challenges to state and local IT departments. I asked the top tech officials in Seattle; Catawba County, N.C.; Boise, Idaho; and Delaware to share what challenges they face in the year ahead. Their responses may ring true for some of you.

With the new year in full swing, some federal offices may be starting to think about searching for summer interns. While, of course, agency managers must be vigilant about following federal rules and regulations on interns, they do have some leeway and should take the time on the front end to ensure the internship experience is a win-win.

In a new report conducted by my company, Millennial Branding, and Identified.com, we gathered information from 4 million Gen Y Facebook profiles to see how their personal and professional online identities overlap. We discovered that, to some degree, most users limit the details of their professional lives on Facebook. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Gen Y Facebook users don’t list their employer in their profile, some likely out of worries that they could be easily searchable by co-workers — a situation they’d prefer to avoid.

Less than 10 percent of the nation’s metropolitan areas have recovered the jobs they have lost since the recession. Of the largest metro areas, Houston is the only one that has returned to pre-recession levels.

Seven decades after scientists came here during World War IIto create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess.

Sustainability is just as much about preparing for tomorrow as it is about improving quality of life, protecting resources, advancing equity and stimulating the economy today. It requires confronting difficult realities and making informed, responsible, and at times unpopular decisions — in other words, strong leadership.

With two weeks to go until voters in Oregon choose who will replace former Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.), the Republican candidate’s campaign released an internal poll Monday showing the race is within the margin of error.